Federal Court orders Apple & HTC to Settlement Talks on 8/28/12

Thanks to Joey for the heads-up...  this morning, a Delaware based Federal Court has ordered Apple & HTC to settlement talks on August 28, 2012. Hang tight everyone, this could be a bumpy news day.

From Foss Patents Blog:

Today the United States District for the District of Delaware ordered the lawyers as well unspecified decision makers of Apple and HTC to meet in Delaware on August 28, 2012, to discuss a possible settlement. The talks will be moderated by Magistrate Judge Sherry R. Fallon.

I don't expect any major developments between now and the date set for this mediation effort that will put the necessary pressure on HTC to settle. HTC doesn't have to fear any major legal breakthrough for Apple (not counting preliminary rulings) for at least the remainder of this year, and it now has bigger problems than this litigation.

If the Delaware court really wanted to make a contribution to a near-term settlement, it should un-stay all those lawsuits except for those claims that are still pending at the ITC. Even if the court did that, the matter wouldn't be ripe for settlement by the summer, but then a mediation effort might succeed in early 2013.

Read the full post @ Foss Patents.

What's this mean for the near-term? Well none of us know what exactly went on in court this morning, and no one is reporting on the elephant in the room - but I do know that we have some sort of movement on the devices sitting in the warehouse - so as soon as I can confirm something in stone, it'll be here.

HTC EVO 4G LTE delayed at US Customs by Apple

**SEE THE LATEST UPDATE (FULL LAUNCH DELAY**

**11PM UPDATE** HTC EVO 4G LTE launch now officially delayed. new post upcoming with details within the hour. 

**10PM UPDATE** Since posting the article below - it appears that a large majority of the pre-order stock is also being held. Will know more on Wednesday AM around 10AM, will update then.

===

If you have already ordered your HTC EVO 4G LTE or plan on buying one at a store on Friday, then you're lucky... you may be in the elite group of people that will be able to say they own the device anytime soon. When the email inbox started lighting up a couple of hours ago with questions, we should have known something was up - and we can now confirm that a large number of shipments from HTC are now being held by US Customs - for Apple patent infringement.

So what's this mean for you? Well, if you're not one of the early adopters, and usually ride the 'second wave' when a new device is launched, you may be waiting just a bit longer until this power play by Apple is worked out.

The Verge has more info...

HTC's statement:

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

Court Ruling: Washington state Business and Occupation (B&O) surcharge increase starting 6/1/12 has been canceled.

Those of you in Washington State will be happy to know that due to a new court ruling, Sprint will NOT be passing along a fee as originally planned on June 1.

• The Washington state Business and Occupation (B&O) surcharge increase starting 6/1/12 has been canceled.


• Bill messages will not begin on 5/1/12.


• In addition, the current surcharge of .471% was discontinued on 5/1/12.
  
  
  
  • The surcharge is being removed because Sprint has revisited the decision to recover the Washington Business and Occupation tax costs as a surcharge in light of a recent court ruling.
  
  
  • Sprint is not currently issuing credits.
  
  
  
  

Why you need to know it:

• Some of the non-government fee and surcharge documents have been updated to include these surcharge updates and this information is no longer valid.


• These documents are in the process of being updated with the current information.

What you need to do:

• Be aware the Washington state Business and Occupations charge has been canceled.


• If you come across any inaccurate information in a document, please disregard the information.


• Remember the documents will be updated soon to reflect the current and accurate information.